I have a client who has thin flat brittle nails. When her free edge grows out the sides want to stay straight and don't have a nice downward curve. She'd like to try a gel application to see if the application will give her nails a nicer shape. Since I've never used gels before I'd like to hear what everyone has to say.

You can temporarily correct this if you clip off her entire free edge then apply extensions, but as her nails grow, they will grow back into that shape. So the answer is yes, you can, but it won't permanently correct the shape.

My daughter normally has very thin and flat nails. When she started wearing gels we noticed that she developed a beautiful C curve. The gel helped to support the nail as it grew and prevented it from flattening out. Of course, when she quit wearing gels, her nails flattened out again.

I've also seen that after you cure the first coat of clear gel, apply a line of gel down the middle of the nail, longways, and turn upside down for a few seconds. this will make the gel settle into a curve in the middle, then cure. I've never tried it and I would imagine it takes a few tries to get the hang of it but that's what I've seen to make the nail curvier.

I don't know if it's as true for gel, but I do know that you can change growth patterns in nails with acrylic, but it takes 1-2 years of continual usage to effect the change. This can work for ski-jump nails and nails that detach too low on the nail bed. What I'm not sure of is if gel is hard enough, though I would think it should be...

I am going to have to say acrylic MIGHT help reshape the nail, but I am doubtful in this type of case.. reasoning is the issues with my own toes. My 2 big toes started to become pincher nails.. very painful and they were popping off the nail bed.. doming is a really good way to describe it.. we started with a gel application.. several months we saw an improvement but thought it could be better.. I asked to switch to acrylic and it really made a difference much faster,, the nails are not not pinching, not domed and almost look 100% normal. We switched back to gels for a while in Nov I think because Maureen really wanted to use a color that she was in love with.. kept gels on for a second round.. so total maybe 10 weeks +/-and honestly.. my one toe started to hurt several weeks down the road. It's back to acrylic for me.. I think acrylic being a little less forgiving for movement.. holds its shape.. I dont know if you can force a nail to a better C curve though.. never heard that done.. you can pinch a C curve with gels or acrylic.. being an acrylic girl myself, I think its easier to pinch

So the effect on my nails, needed to be flattened.. having the acrylic on, as it grew out, the area around the cuticle stayed flat as it grew out.. even if you are pinching, you are pinching frm the free edge out to the tip, so I;m not sure even pinching, with gel or acrylic will make a long term difference..

Ahhhh, I read too fast and didn't catch that you're trying to change the shape of the free edge, and I have zero experience with that, only with trying to get the nail play more firmly attached to the nail bed and growing straighter sidewalls.

(02-17-2012, 11:58 AM)onyxkeeper Wrote: [ -> ]Debbie, because this is on your toes, do you go longer to fill them? Does your tech remove the acrylic every time?

Thanks
Denise

Denise.. I do sometimes wait too long to get them redone.. she usually does a regular fill onthem, maybe takigng down the existing acrylic a little more than just thinning it out.. cause if I;m gonna have acrylic on my toes it better be bling so there usually a significant amount of reduction.. but not completely..